Where Have All the Milestones Gone? The Decline of Significant Research on the Process and Effects of Mass Communication

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Abstract
Between about 1930 and the early 1980s, a number of seminal research studies yielded most of today's theories of the process and effects of mass communication. Since that time, few studies have made significant theoretical contributions. This apparent slowdown is inconsistent with certain trends in the media industries and in the academy that logically should result in greater production of seminal studies. The question is why so few milestones have been produced in recent years? A possible answer is that certain trends are taking place in U.S. society that tend to reduce the number of ground-breaking studies that will be produced by contemporary academics. Specifically, social scientists have turned from media studies to their more traditional research agenda; increasing attention is being paid to qualitative analysis by today's media scholars, and many are now preoccupied with critical perspectives rather than research. Additionally, higher pay in applied research may be drawing bright doctors of philosophy away from basic studies; heavy use of part-time instructors increases the workload of full-time faculty; and, finally, funding for basic research in mass communication is increasingly difficult to find.

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